I think Singaporeans have the tools to be more socially mobile
but many are not prepared to put up with the sacrifices required.
As reported in the ST recently, there are better paid jobs in the
shipbuilding industries and wafer fabs, but people shun them and
prepare to work in white collar jobs for lower pay.
Education is the best tool for upward mobility and it is available
to all in Singapore. Of course not every has the same talents and
not everyone will do as well, but they will be worse off without
it. The pay gap will continue to increase. The effect of
globalisation means there is greater mobility of both capital and
labour. Talented workers from China are now able to compete
directly with our own. If we do not upgrade the skills of our
workers, they may even lose their low-paying jobs.
The GST increase will go mainly into funding the workfare
programme, from what I have ben hearing through the press.
Singapore will not just give money to the poor. The generous
unemployment benefits in Europe have failed to encourage hard work
and is self-defeating. Instead, we reward low paid workers for
staying in employment but topping up their income. In a sense, that
is distorting the market too. We are giving our low-paid workers an
advantage over foreign workers. We do not force employers to pay
our workers more or make them only hire Singaporeans. They have to
compete with cheap foreign workers to get the job, but since their
pay would be low in this competition, the government (and not the
employer) tops up their pay. The funding will come from GST
increase.
